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' I .2 SheetsSheet 1. 0. RODNEY. Shot Shells a therefor.

0. A. & J. M. Art of Manufacturing Paper nd Apparatus I Patnted Feb. 15,1881.

N.PETERS. PHQTO-LITHOGRAFHER. WASHINGTON, 0, C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. I

CAESAR A. RODNEY AND JOHN M. O. RODNEY, OF WILMINGTON, DEL.

ART OF MANUFACTURING PAPER SHOT-SHELLS AND APPARATUS THEREFOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 237,700, dated February 15, 1881.

Application filed April 19, 1879.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, CAESAR A. RODNEY and JOHN M. O. RonNEY, both of Wilmington, in the county of New Castle and State of Delaware, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Art of Manufacturing Paper'Shot-Shells, and in Apparatus therefor, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to a cartridge-shell which is formed of a tube of paper, a metallic cap or head, and a base or wad of paper, the parts being firmly and securely united by pressure in dies. Such shells are made with or without a re-enforce-that is, a supplemental short tube of paper or metal, which is inserted in the shell at its head, and in which the wad is placed, as is well understood.

Our invention is equally applicable to the manufacture of either form of shell.

In the accompanying drawings, which show so much only of a machine as is necessary to illustrate our invention, Figure 1 is a front elevation. Fig. 2 is a plan view with the upright frame-work broken away. Fig. 3 is a section through one of the dies, showing the shell before it has been subjected to any pressure; Fig. 4, a similar section, showing the yielding die locked and the shell compressed by the first plunger; and Fig. 5, a similar section, showing the shell and die under the pressure of the header at the end of its stroke.

The general construction of the dial, bedplate, and frame-work of the press is ordinary and well known, and need not therefore be specifically described. I

The dial B, which revolves upon the bedplate A of the press, carries a series of dies, 0, which are provided with annular flange-recesses 0 as shown in the drawings. The sockets for the dies extend in this instance through the dial, so that the pins or mandrels D of the dies rest loosely upon the bed-plate. These pins are provided with heads d at their hottoms, which snugly fit the socket and prevent lateral play. The walls of the die-sockets have steps or shoulders E F, as shown in Figs. 3 and 5. A strong spiral spring, which rests upon the lower step, F, bears against the under side of the die 0 and constantly tends to force it upward. The rise of the die is limited by a flange, c, on it abutting against a collar, G, which rests on the step E, and is held securely in place by a set-screw, g. In each die is formed an annular groove, 0, which, when thedie is in its normal position, is flush with the upper surface of the dial, as shown in Fig. 4. A spring-catch, H, mounted upon a bracket, I, enters the groove in each die successively as the dial pauses in its rotation, and locks it against downward pressure.

The ram of the press carries a header, J, and a punch, K. The diameter of the punch is the same as that of the opening in the die,

and it is of a length sufficient, when in its lowest position, to bring its face flush with the uppersurfaceofthediebeneathit. Theheader or plunger J is greater in diameter than the opening in the die, and in its descent meets the surface of the yielding die and forces it down.

The metallic cups or heads or of the shells are first made with the partly-formed flange as, open within, as' shown in Fig. 3. The wad of paper, 3 to form the base of the shell is placed within one end of the paper tube 2, and the metallic cap is then placed over the end of the tube. The several parts of the shell will then be in the relation to each other shown in Fig. 3, and the shell will be ready for the press, the operation of which is as follows: The dial is intermittingly rotated and the ram of the press worked in any usual well-known way. The shells are placed over the pins in the yielding dies, as shown in Fig. 3. As the first die comes under the punch K the dial pauses, the spring-catch enters the annular groove in the die and looks it against downward pressure, and the punch descends, forcing the cap into the die until it is flush with the upper surface thereof. The condition of the shell at this stage of the operation is shown in Fig. 4, the flange being fully formed, but still open within, and the wad not compressed. At the next pause of the dial the second die comes under the punch K, and the operation above described is repeated, and at the same time the first die comes under the header J. As the header J is of greater diameter than the opening in the die, and as the head of the shell has been forced down flush with the upper surface of the die by the previous operation, the header makes a clean contact with the upper surface of the die, and there is no liability of the metal cap being caught between them. The header, in descending, overcomes the resistance of the spring-die and forces it down. The expansive force exerted within the flan gerecess of the die is not sufficient to OYBPCOIDB the friction of the shell on the sides thereof and force the header and die apart, the practical effect of which is the same as that of a die closed at all points. The shell is thus supported in every direction and is carried down upon the pin, which is solidly supported upon the bed-plate of the press. The paper wad and end of the tube are compressed and forced or flowed into the open flange of the full y-formed metallic head, and the flange is thus conformed to the width and depth of the flan ge-recess at all points, so that shells having flanges of uniform thickness and width are produced.

It will be observed that the flange first formed in the metallic head is sufficientl y large to form the flange of the completed shell, and that the subsequent operations serve simply to conform it to the flan ge-recess of the die. This initial flange, however, may be made of the shape required for the finished shell, if desired. The power required for working the press is therefore greatly reduced, and as the lateral expansion of the wad is not resisted by the metallic head, as would be the case were the open flange not previously formed, the wad will completely fill and be solidly compacted in the flange.

The complete shells are ejected in the usual manner.

By the operation above described there is no liability of the flanges finning on account of ordinary variations in the bulk of the wads, and shells having flanges of a uniform size are produced with certainty and rapidity. In the shells thus made the head is so securely and solidly united to the tube that it is impossible for it to be removed, and the wad is compacted to such a degree that it is not softened or in- 4 5 jured by the discharge of the shell.

In the drawings shells known as centerfire shells, having a central depression in the head, are represented; but the teat or pin for forming such depression is not shown. Our machine is obviously, however, capable of producing any of the ordinary kinds of paper shells.

We are aware that prior to our invention various modes of makin g paper cartridge-shells were known, as follows:

In what is known as the English method no initial flange is formed on the metallic cap, and the shell is placed head down in a closed die. A punch is forced down into the shell by a workman, who pulls the sweep or handle of the press. The wad is thus compressed sufficiently to force the metallic cap out into all parts of the flan ge-recess of the die. The character of work thus produced is good, but the operation is necessarily slow and correspondingly expensive.

In what is known as the American method the dies are arranged with the flan ge-recess at the top, and are provided with pins or mandrels, as hereinbefore described. The shells with unspread caps are placed on the mandrels and the punch or header descends, compressing the wad and expanding or upsetting the metallic cap into the flange-recess. This process is objectionable, for the reason that if the paper wad should be of too small bulk the flange would not be forced into all parts of the recess in the die, and the shell,would be defective; and if the wad should be too large the metal would overflow the flange recess between the punch and die, and a fin or feather would be formed on the flange. In this method, therefore, the bulk of wad and the thickness of case and re-enforce must be absolutely uniform-a thing impossible in practice.

Again, shells without initial open flanges have been placed in a press having a springsupported die and a header of larger diameter than the opening in the die, similar to those herein described. The objection to this plan is, that the flange in the metal cap is made by the lateral expansion of the wad, and it the wad is small a small or imperfect head will result. If the wad is too large, the die and punch will separate and a thick flanged or finned head will be produced. To practice this method successfully the case, re-enforce, and wad must be always of exactly the same bulka thing impossible in practice.

Another plan which has been patented is to first fully and accurately form the flange in the metallic head, and then apply it to a paper tube in the end of which is out aseries of slits, so that it will readily spread into the flange. A paper wad is also used and sufficient pressure applied to press the tube and wad into the flange. The wad was thus made to conform to the shape of the flange. Such cartridges had a metal staple for the cap, the legs of which entered holes in the paper wad. The punch for compressing the wad was made so as to fit over this staple, and pressure was therefore exerted upon a part only of the wad. As a consequence the wad could not be compressed with much force, as it would rise between the legs of the staple more readily than it would expand into the flange. It was therefore necessary to insert and secure within the shell a supplementary tube having a head with an opening formed therein to fit over the staple, for the purpose of holding the parts in place and preventing the gas resulting from the firing from entering between the wad and shell. The shells thus made were but poorly secured together, and the flanges in the heads were necessarily of considerable thickness and of inferior shape, and the wad was not solidly compacted therein.

Another method is to first partly form the flange and then compress the shell according to the American plan. This method, however, has all the objections of the American method before described, with the addition that by reason of the initialspreading of the flange the heads are more easily overpowered or finned,

IIO

and they must thereforebe but slightly pressed. Should a small wad occur it will not be sufficiently pressed and compacted to be reliable, and with the best management there will be such variation in the wads that many shells will be finned and lost.

By our process the shell is first driven down into the die, and when the die is closed by the header and pressure applied no resistance is offered to the flow of the wad, it is solidly pack ed into the flange, completely filling it, and is made to conform to the flange-recess of a die practically closed at all points. We are thus not only enabled to produce uniformly perfect shells, but as the metallic head is not relied upon to prevent flnning, as is the case in the other processes herein mentioned, and as the wad is more solidly packed in the head and flange than by any other process, we are ena bled to use very light metal, and thus not only decrease the cost of material, but also the cost of producing the metallicheaded shells, because no imperfect flanges are made.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The hereinbefore-described improvement in the art of manufacturing paper shot-shells, which consists in partly or wholly forming the open flange in the metallic head, placing the head, tube, and wad together, then pressing the met llic head into the recess of the die until it is flush with the upper surface thereof, whereby theflan ge on the metallic head is given the exact shape required, and then compressing the paper tube and wad in a practicallyclosed die, whereby they are laterally expanded or flowed into the flange, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, of the yielding die, the catch for looking it in its uppermost position, and the punch.

3. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, of the revolving dial, the yielding dies carried thereby, the spring-catch, the punch, and the header.

4. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, of the dial having the stepped socket, the die,theannular flange uponitslower end, the spring, and the removable collar which limits the rise of the die.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names.

CAESAR A. RODNEY. JOHN M. C. RODNEY.

Witnesses DANIEL FARRA, KATE I. FARRA. 

